BurmaNet News, February 1, 2008

[Editor]

February 1, 2008 Issue # 3393


INSIDE BURMA
BBC Burmese Service: More NLD members arrested in Burma
The Nation: Burma condemned on crackdown on internet freedom
Mizzima News: Burmese blogger Nay Phone Latt, mysteriously missing
Mizzima News: Burmese authorities take in another two NLD youth
Irrawaddy: Think tank releases recommendations on Burma
DVB: Taunggok NLD member dies at 51

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Junta pressures ethnic ceasefire groups on China border
Narinjara News: Burmese army loots rice from traders

HEALTH / AIDS
Narinjara News: Burma bans Bangladesh poultry

REGIONAL
Narinjara News: Burmese monks without shelter
Irrawaddy: NLD spokesman hospitalized in Singapore
Irrawaddy: ‘A man without a head can run Burma’

INTERNATIONAL
New York Times: Bush’s empty words on two troubled nations
The Washington Times: First Lady still pushing reform on Burma

OPINION / OTHER
DVB: The junta’s crackdown continues
Irrawaddy: Rambo: Another victory for the West and a defeat for Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 1, BBC Burmese Service
More NLD members arrested in Burma

NLD Youth wing members Ko Thi Han and Ko Htein Win were taken away by the
special intelligence personnel this morning, according to NLD spokesman, U
Nyan Win.

The reason of their arrest or where they taken is not known.

Many politicians were arrested unlawfully and this should be stopped
immediately says NLD in their latest statement.
____________________________________

February 1, The Nation
Burma condemned on crackdown on internet freedom – Danielle Kirk

Media advocacy groups have condemned Burma's new crackdown on Internet
freedom after the military regime reportedly arrested a wellknown blogger
in Rangoon.

Nay Myo Latt was taken into custody on Wednesday after writing about the
suppression of freedoms since last September's prodemocracy
demonstrations, Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association
said.

The blogger, owner of three Internet cafes and a member of Aung Sun Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), was arrested at his home in
Rangoon's Thingangyun district, the groups said in a release.

Writing under a pseudonym on his website www.nayphonelatt.blogspot.com,
Nay Myo Latt wrote poems and stories relating indirectly to politics.

He is the first blogger to be arrested, according to the editor of The
Irrawaddy, an independent Burmese publication based in Chiang Mai.

"In the past there were crackdowns on the media, but it seems to me this
is the first official case related to blogging," Aung Zaw said.
"Photographers and a blogger have been briefly detained in the past, but
it's never been this serious."

Burmese authorities have been increasing surveillance of the Internet
since early last month, reportedly pressuring Internet cafe owners to
register personal details of all users and programme screen captures every
five minutes, Reporters Without Borders said.

This information is then apparently sent to the communication ministry, it
said.

The only blog platform that had been accessible in Burma, Googleowned
Blogger, has been blocked by the regime since January 23.

Bloggers now cannot post entries unless they use proxies or other ways to
get around censorship, the statement said.

"This blockage is one of the ways used by the government to reduce Burmese
citizens to silence. Burma is in danger of being cut off from the rest of
the world again," the advocacy groups said.

A Burmese blogger living in Thailand said reports of Nay Myo Latt's arrest
had scared some members of Burma's online community, but most remained
defiant.

"People can't access Blogger so they are changing to Word Press or another
site. They also post from their Gmail account or send the post to someone
outside," Kyaw Win said. "It's not a safe way."

A Rangoonbased blogger, speaking in Bangkok last week at a conference on
media in AsiaPacific, said people who write in English were at less risk
of being detected

Members of the ruling military junta had little education and could only
read Burmese, said the writer, who wished to remain unnamed.

____________________________________

February 1, Mizzima News
Burmese blogger Nay Phone Latt, mysteriously missing

The Burmese blogger, Nay Phone Latt, allegedly arrested by the police on
Tuesday has mysteriously gone missing, family members complained.

Daw Aye Aye Than, mother of blogger and writer, Nay Phone Latt, said, the
whereabouts of her son cannot be confirmed as authorities including police
officers in Thuwana and Thingan Kyun police stations and Ministry of Home
Affairs deny detaining him.

Daw Aye Aye Than said her son left home on Tuesday at about noon but when
they tried to contact him on cell phone at about 1:00 p.m. he could not be
contacted.

"And at around 2:30 p.m. the authorities came to our house but did not ask
for Nay Phone Latt. They looked around the house. So I think he must have
been arrested before they came to us," Daw Aye Aye Than told Mizzima.

She added that the police team led by Maj. Hein Htet while not mentioning
their purpose searched around the house, as if looking for someone in
hiding.

"We went to the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Tingankyun and
Thuwana police stations to inquire about him but all the authorities would
tell us was they don't know him and he is not here," Daw Aye Aye Than
said.

Daw Aye Aye Than said she is worried for her son and could not understand
the reason for his mysterious disappearance.

"I am very sad for this kind of unlawful action, I don't understand why
they [authorities] are doing this to my son because he is not involved in
any illegal activities and does all his work openly," Daw Aye Aye Than
said.

Nay Phone Latt, who has a blogsite www.nayphonelatt.blogspot.com,
reportedly disappeared on Tuesday. While many of his colleagues believe he
has been arrested by the police, there are, so far no eyewitness accounts.

While earlier, some friends said he was taken away by the police from an
internet café in Thingan Kyun township in Rangoon, his mother's version
indicates that he was arrested while on the road.

While either version cannot be independently verified, it is still
uncertain that the authorities have taken him away, as there are no
eyewitnesses.

____________________________________

February 1, Mizzima News
Burmese authorities take in another two NLD youth – Maung Dee

In a continuous crackdown on dissidents, Burmese authorities on Friday
morning took in two youth members of Burma's main opposition party –
National League for Democracy – for interrogation, a party official said.

Nyan Win, a NLD spokesperson, said Thiha and Htein Win, both in-charges of
NLD youth in wards 19 and 94, respectively, of North Dagon Myothit, were
taken from their residences by Special Branch Police at about 7:30 a.m.
(local time).

"Thiha and Htein Win were taken this morning by a team of Special Branch
Police led by sub-inspector Zaw Min Oo. The police said they had reason to
interrogate the two youth leaders and took them away," Nyan Win said.

A youth close to the NLD youth leaders said family members remain
concerned as it is still unknown where the two are being held.

"Though we don't know what the police want to interrogate them about, I
think it might be connected to recent activities, particularly about the
bulletin that NLD youth published on Independence Day," the youth told
Mizzima.

In a similar incident, a Burmese blogger, Nay Phone Latt, was believed to
have been taken by the police on January 29 from an Internet café in
Rangoon's Thingan Kyun Township.

Family members Nay Phone Latt also remain concerned, as authorities have
denied detaining him and his whereabouts is still unknown.

____________________________________

February 1, Irrawaddy
Think tank releases recommendations on Burma – Wai Moe

Change will only come to Burma if influential groups in the West and Asia
work closely together, according to a study released by The International
Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based think tank.

The report, “Burma /Myanmar: After the Crackdown,” released on January 31,
suggests three elements must work in tandem, John Virgoe, ICG’s Southeast
Asia director, told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

The elements include the United Nations and UN Special Envoy to Burma
Ibrahim Gambari; multi-party talks with China, India and the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean); and the international community,
particularly Western democracies and Japan, all of whom must work together
and keep the Burmese junta at the top of the international agenda.

The junta’s crackdown last year caused even Burma’s allies to recognize
that change is desperately needed, according to the ICG report, which
wrote:

“The military government’s response to the growing international pressure
has been limited. While neither request nor threats deterred the generals
from crushing the protest movement, they have tried to manage the fallout
by engaging with Gambari and have taken a number of steps, in line with
his requests, to ‘normalise’ the situation on the ground.”

On the pro-democracy opposition movement, the ICG said it lacks the power
to challenge the military rulers, and a decisive battleground for
meaningful change is more likely to exist within the elite political
framework than in the streets.

The Burmese people remain committed to achieve change, and new
opportunities may emerge during a gradual transition which sees the
replacement of overt military rule by some sort of hybrid regime, the
report suggests.

The group said targeted sanctions can be an important tool in support of
diplomacy and increasing focus on sanctions is a positive.

Targeted sanctions should be gradually focused on restricting access of
military, state and crony business enterprises to international banking
services, including the holding of foreign bank accounts and the use of
the Belgian-based SWIFT system for bank transfers. In addition, sanctions
should include limiting the access of selected generals and their
immediate families to personal business opportunities, heath care,
shopping and foreign education for their children, including in regional
countries, the report said.

“Arms embargoes, while general in nature, have elements of targeting too
and should be pursued,” said ICG.

Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese analyst in Thailand, said he was disappointed
with the ICG report because the report only focused on outside players.
The main participants to effect the process of change are inside Burma, he
said. The report made no recommendations regarding the regime and
in-country opposition groups.

“ICG suggested the regional countries should be more involved in the Burma
issue,” he said. “But the military junta does not care about pressure
(from regional countries),” said Aung Naing Oo.

Some critics said the current ICG report has altered its stance toward
Burma following the September crisis. In previous reports, the ICG took a
less positive view on Western sanctions, and it supported engagement with
the regime, some critics said.

Virgoe said the ICG has not changed its stand on Burma. He said that after
the September crackdown, the international community has found more common
ground on Burma than in the past.

“Previously I think there were really different opinions between Asean on
the one hand and the West on the other hand,” he said. “But now there is
more common ground. I think everybody, every country, recognizes that
Burma is a serious problem—that change is needed in Burma.”

____________________________________

February 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
Taunggok NLD member dies at 51 – Naw Say Phaw

Taunggok township National League for Democracy communications committee
member and human rights activist U Aung Than Htun passed away on 29
January at the age of 51.

The NLD party in Taunggok township, Arakan state, said his funeral was
held on 30 January and the following morning, his family offered a meal to
monks at his house as a traditional way of making merit for the dead.

Taunggok NLD's communication committee deputy chairman U Tin Linn Aung
said that Aung Than Htun was an enthusiastic human rights activist
alongside his dedicated work with the opposition party.

U Tin Linn Aung said Aung Than Htun always stood on the side of people who
had been suffered forced labour and other human rights violations from the
military government.

"For the people in government who abuse their power, it is a good thing
that one more activist who stood on the civilians' side all the time has
now passed away," said Tin Linn Aung.

"But for us, for the people of Burma and for all the people who are
defending human rights in the country, it is the loss of a hero."

Aung Than Htun was formerly a government official in the forestry
department and became a member of the NLD after he was sacked from his
position for his involvement in the national uprising in 1988.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 1, Irrawaddy
Junta pressures ethnic ceasefire groups on China border – Saw Yan Naing

Burma’s regime is stepping up its efforts to persuade armed ethnic groups
to become more involved in its political reform program, even as it stalls
in its talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Senior Burmese military leaders are pressuring ethnic ceasefire groups
based along the border with China to disarm and support a national
referendum, which is part of the regime’s seven-point “road map” to
democracy.

Recently, two senior leaders of the ruling junta, Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint,
Minister for Culture, and Lt-Gen Ye Myint, head of Military Affairs
Security, visited the Burma-China border, where they held talks with Wa,
Kachin, Shan and Kokang armed insurgent groups, according to Aung Kyaw
Zaw, a Burmese analyst based on the Chinese border.

Lt-Gen Ye Myint has been traveling around the area since January 24,
meeting with leaders of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the Kachin
Independence Organization (KIO), the Shan State Army (North) and the
Kokang Army.

Aung Kyaw Zaw said that the Burmese side was careful not to state its
demands too strongly, but was holding informal dinner receptions at which
the Burmese generals indirectly asked ethnic leaders to disarm their
armies and support the junta’s referendum.

The Burmese generals were trying to persuade leaders of the border-based
ceasefire groups to form political parties so they could run in future
general elections, said the Burmese analyst. But the regime didn’t say
when elections would be held.

There was no official reply from the ceasefire groups, according to Aung
Kyaw Zaw. Among the ceasefire groups, the UWSA is the strongest; it is
believed to have more than 20,000 foot soldiers. There have been
persistent reports coming out of the Wa hills suggesting that the Wa
leadership may not accede to Rangoon’s request to disarm the UWSA.

Meanwhile, Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint, who is also a leading member of the
regime’s “Spokes Authoritative Team,” held a meeting with Kachin leaders
from the KIO. This is his second trip in recent months.

Htay Aung, an exiled Burmese researcher on military affairs, said that
Khin Aung Myint, who has served in the psychological warfare department,
is knowledgeable about ethnic groups and may be able to persuade the armed
groups to disarm.

The regime has officially announced that the first two stages of its
“seven-step road map” have been completed, leaving only five more stages
to go before the country makes its transition to a “disciplined
democracy”.

The next step is the drafting of a new constitution, with subsequent steps
including the holding of a referendum, formation of a people’s assembly,
and general elections.

Maj Sai Lao Hseng, a spokesperson for the Shan State Army (South), which
continues to engage in armed conflict with the regime, said that he
believed the regime would continue to push the armed groups to disarm and
support a new constitution and referendum.

However, Sai Lao Hseng added that several ceasefire group leaders might
reject the junta’s requests to disarm. A number of ceasefire groups have
attended the regime’s National Convention, which first convened in 1993.

____________________________________

February 1, Narinjara News
Burmese army loots rice from traders

Soldiers from the Burmese army stationed in Buthidaung have looted several
tons of rice from local traders transporting the rice from Sittwe on board
the Danyawaddy ferry ship to be sold in Buthidaung markets, one woman
trader told Narinjara over the phone yesterday.

The incident took place on place on the ferry ship on 25 January, 2008, on
the way to Buthidaung from Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State.

The woman said that several rice traders were transporting many tons of
rice from Sittwe to Buthidaung, where the price of rice is double that in
the capital, after bribing local law enforcement officials at the Sittwe
jetty and ship escorts.

The authority in Arakan State does not allow the transport of rice from
the middle of the state to the north in order to control the rice market
in Arakan, so traders must bribe local authorities in order to transport
rice to the north.

Transporting rice to Buthidaung and other parts of northern Arakan is a
lucrative business for poor traders, and many unemployed people are
involved in the business, the trader said.

On the ferry ship on the day in question, a platoon of about 50 army
personnel boarded along with other passengers, but soon began drinking a
lot on board, she said.

When the ship began to approach Buthidaung, the soldiers started to look
for rice, accusing the traders of smuggling.

Afterward, the soldiers took the rice from the traders and began throwing
it into the water from the ship. Many rice traders were crying as their
rice was thrown overboard. Some traders were attempting to drag their rice
bags away from the army men in hopes of holding on to it, and the
atmosphere on the ship became chaotic and confusing.

Although they threw many bags overboard, many army personnel secretly
stowed some of the looted rice in their own bags and packages to bring
back to the barracks and to sell in the markets, the woman added.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

February 1, Narinjara News
Burma bans Bangladesh poultry

Burmese health officials have banned the import of poultry from Bangladesh
after the H4N1 virus has been found spreading among birds there recently,
reports a police officer.

"The official from the livestock and cure department in Maungdaw issued a
notice prohibiting any kinds of domestic animals or related equipment
being imported from Bangladesh. We received the statement yesterday from
the department," he said.

The authorities have banned all poultry animals, including chickens,
ducks, and eggs, as well as animal foods from being imported from
Bangladesh. Border authorities have been put on high alert to prevent
poultry products from entering the country.

Burma does not typically import poultry from Bangladesh, but the authority
has banned poultry imports out of fear of the bird flu spreading in Burma,
the police officer said.

A border source said, "Indeed many poultry animals have been exported to
Bangladesh from Burma for many years, but some local people in the border
area have imported poultry and animal foods from Bangladesh."

The bird flu is now spreading menacingly in Burma's western neighbor, with
many chickens being culled in several districts in Bangladesh, according
to official reports.

Some 326,844 chickens from 93 poultry farms in 29 districts and six
metropolitan areas were culled by the Bangladesh Livestock Department in
the last few days.

The worst areas of the outbreak are located in Bangladesh's southwest near
India.

The Bangladesh government has taken steps to combat the spread of avian
influenza and it's top priority is to wipe out the deadly disease.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 1, Narinjara News
Burmese monks without shelter

Many Burmese monks who've recently arrived in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka
from Burma to apply for refugee status with the UNHCR are facing trouble
with finding shelter.

Monk U Payna Dissa said, “There is no accommodation for monks in Dhaka. We
have difficulties staying in Dhaka when we come here to apply for refugee
status at the UNHCR."

In Dhaka, there are a few Buddhist monasteries, but the Buddhist monks are
unable to stay there because they do not have valid travel documents. The
monasteries in Dhaka also worry that Bangladesh authorities might take
action against them if the undocumented monks take shelter there.

Many monks in Burma have recently come to Bangladesh to escape arrest by
the Burmese military authorities after the monk-led protests last fall.

Some Burmese refugees requested that the UNHCR office in Dhaka set up a
room for the Burmese monks to stay in when they come to Dhaka to seek
asylum, but the request was denied.

In Dhaka, there are a few offices belonging to democratic activists
working for the Burmese democracy movement, and all offices are now
crowded with many Burmese people who have fled Burma seeking safety after
the Saffron Revolution.

The director of Narinjara News also reports that the Narinjara office will
have to move to another location at the beginning of March as their
landlord has refused to continue renting to them after so many people have
had to come and stay there.

Other Burmese democratic activists in Dhaka are facing similar problems as
Burmese people come to them for shelter.

U Payna Dissa has made a plea through Narinjara to democratic activists in
exile, including monk organizations abroad, to consider how they can help
the Burmese monks in Dhaka in finding shelter

____________________________________

February 1, Irrawaddy
NLD spokesman hospitalized in Singapore – Shah Paung

Myint Thein, a 62 year-old spokesman for the Burmese opposition party, the
National League for Democracy, has been admitted to Singapore General
Hospital suffering from stomach cancer. He is said to be in critical
condition.

Myint Thein and his wife were permitted to fly from Burma to Singapore on
Thursday due to the emergency circumstances.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday by telephone from his hospital bed,
Myint Thein said that he felt better after he arrived at the hospital and
hopes to recover soon.

Myint Thein had been suffering from gastric ailments for some time, but
his condition deteriorated when he was detained in Insein Prison. He was
detained several times without trial and in 1998 was imprisoned once more
after working at the NLD headquarters in Rangoon as an assistant to leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.

Political prisoners in Burma are often denied proper medical care and many
die in prison.

Myint Thein is no stranger to prisons and detention centre. He was
arrested during the September 2007 demonstrations along with ethnic
leaders who actively participated in the monk-led uprising. He was later
released.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) released a
statement on Thursday saying that detainees were not given enough drinking
water or food and were denied access to proper medical care.

The group said that many political detainees and prisoners in Burma face
lingering health problems as a result of their detention.

____________________________________

February 1, Irrawaddy
‘A man without a head can run Burma’ – Kyaw Zwa Moe

Burmese comedians’ political satire reveals how the people think and how
their rulers live in fear

An American without legs can climb Mount Everest,” the American president
said proudly at a gathering of statesmen. Immediately, the Russian
president said, “A Russian without arms can swim across the Atlantic.”

The other world leaders were stunned by the two statements. But the leader
of Burma came to the rescue:

“In my country, a man without a head can run the country for 20 years.”

That’s a joke by a well-known comedian known as Godzilla, and it drew loud
applause from hundreds of Burmese in Bangkok in January.

Cracking such a joke irks Burma’s rulers and can lead to imprisonment for
comedians.

However, the five comedians of Say Yaung Sone & Thee Lay Thee, a Burmese
traditional a-nyient performance troupe, go about cracking such jokes,
ignoring the fact that the ruling generals wouldn’t like them.

The troupe of Say Yaung Sone (colorful) and Thee Lay Thee (referring to
the four comedians: Sein Thee, Pan Thee, Kye Thee and Zee Thee) appeared
in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore in January and has been invited to
perform in Western countries.

Godzilla, in his 40s, and the Thee Lay Thee members, in their early 30s,
mainly tell jokes about the Burmese regime’s harsh crackdown on the
monk-led demonstrations last September, the regime’s corruption, the lack
of electricity and the possibility of change in the country in 2008. The
jokes are more than enough for the comedians to be put in jail with long
sentences.

Even so, Godzilla quips on stage, “After this performance in Bangkok,
we’re going to perform in other countries, including Singapore, [South]
Korea, the United States, Canada and Germany. After that, we’re going to
perform in Moscow.”

A big laugh sweeps over the audience. In Burma, prison is referred to as
“Moscow.”

Actually, Godzilla and Thee Lay Thee were brave enough to crack such
political jokes, defying the ruling junta, in a powerful and surprising
performance in Rangoon in November, just one month after the
demonstrations were brutally put down by the military government.

The well-known comedians, including Godzilla, King Kong, Kyaw Htoo and
Thee Lay Thee, performed their political satire on Myaw Zin Gyun, an islet
in Rangoon’s Kan Daw Gyi lake. They had been asked by authorities to sign
a document saying they would not make political jokes on stage. No such
luck.

Their jokes focused on the crackdowns against the demonstrations and the
arrests of demonstrating monks. The public performance was unprecedented
in the 20 years since the current military regime took power in 1988.

Their performance VCD immediately became popular and was banned by the
authorities. The VCD soon traveled beyond the country’s borders, and the
comedian troupe was invited to perform by Burmese communities in several
foreign countries.

Apart from the political stalemate and national reconciliation, their
jokes also focus on rampant corruption, religion and UN Special Envoy
Ibrahim Gambari.

The latter sketch was among the most popular. Two comedians, Sein Thee and
Pan Thee, portray Gambari and Kyaw Hsan, Burma’s information minister.

During their meeting, Kyaw Hsan and Gambari talk about how to negotiate
constructively with each other. Because of his worldwide travels, Gambari
says he knows what Kyaw Hsan’s up to. Kyaw Hsan says to himself, “This man
doesn’t know about Myanmar [Burma].”

Then Kyaw Hsan points to the floor, shouting, “Oh! Look! Dollars!
Dollars!” Gambari quickly bends over and picks up the money, saying “I
love dollars.”

Kyaw Hsan then swiftly kicks Gambari in the rear, laughing, “This is
Myanmar!”

Off stage, Sein Thee, who portrays Gambari, told The Irrawaddy: “That is
the joke I like the most. That joke is a reality. I don’t believe in his
mission. His trips haven’t brought any results yet.”

Godzilla said, “We comedians are just representatives of the people. We
are cracking jokes on behalf of the people.”

Throughout Burma’s history, comedians have told jokes in front of kings
and royalty who wanted to know what was really going in their kingdom,
especially in remote areas. It was a form of reporting on the public mood.

Comedians are aware of people’s feelings because they travel the country,
Godzilla said. Ancient kings liked jokes, and, if they were willing to
reform wrongdoings, they could take action based on the jokes.

“Like before, we gather jokes from people from all walks of life,”
Godzilla said. “They sometimes come out with ideas for us to crack jokes
in the performance.”

An a-nyeint troupe, he said, is a form of entertainment that tries to
relieve people’s suffering, and the jokes can enlighten leaders.

However, the Burmese generals view comedians who tell political jokes as
enemies. Since the current regime took power, comedians Zarganar and Par
Par Lay have both been detained in jail several times and during the
September demonstrations, they were jailed again for about a month each.

Previously, both were imprisoned for several years. Zarganar is
internationally respected for his politically biting satire. He received
the Lillian Hellman and Dashiel Hammett Award given by the Fund for Free
Expression, a committee organized by New York- based Human Rights Watch.

Godzilla said, “Zarganar paved a new road for young comedians in the early
1980s” under the then authoritarian government.

Godzilla and the Thee Lay Thee comedians are determined to keep spreading
political satire despite the fact that they will probably face severe
prison sentences like their mentors, Zarganar and Par Par Lay.

Sein Thee said, “Even if we are arrested at Rangoon’s airport on the way
back home and put in jail, we will continue cracking jokes because we are
comedians, and we want to be comedians forever.”

“Not only in this life but also the next life,” he said. “I want to tell
jokes to make people happy.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 1, New York Times
Bush’s empty words on two troubled nations – The Editorial Board

Words are cheap. And never cheaper than when humanitarian tragedies are
invoked in speeches for dramatic effect or out of a perfunctory sense of
obligation with no effective followup.

That looked to be the case when President Bush mentioned Sudan and Myanmar
(Burma) — fleetingly — in his uninspiring State of the Union address on
Monday night.
“America opposes genocide in Sudan,” Mr. Bush declared as the assembled
Senators and Congressmen applauded.

Mr. Bush also drew applause when he asserted support for freedom in Burma.
We’re glad both tragedies are still on Mr. Bush’s radar. But mentioning
them served only to remind us how much is left undone.

Let’s look at the facts. The United States first called the killings in
Darfur genocide in 2004 when then-Secretary of State Colin Powell told the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “We concluded — I concluded — that
genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the government of Sudan and
the Janjaweed (militia) bear responsibility — and genocide may still be
occurring.”

That was a big deal. Washington doesn’t throw the term “genocide” around
lightly. It is reserved only for the most heinous and widespread
atrocities like the Holocaust. Good for Mr. Bush for reaffirming that
determination for Darfur.

But how will he end the conflict? What does the United States do now? The
genocide determination imposes a moral obligation on those who make the
accusation. As a signatory of the 1948 Genocide Convention, the United
States is committed to preventing and punishing genocide.

After five years of conflict, more than 200,000 Darfuris are dead and two
and a half million have been driven from their homes. Still,the killing
continues despite endless speeches, United Nations Security Council
resolutions and — at long last — a security council decision to mount the
largest international peacekeeper force ever authorized.
Unfortunately, only about a tenth of the promised additional peacekeepers
are in place and much of the needed equipment has not arrived.

Sudan’s government is a major obstacle, but the world community has not
done all it can or should to stand up to Khartoum. Mr. Bush’s comments,
however welcome a reminder of the problem, didn’t begin to address a way
forward.

As for Myanmar, insiders say Mr. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are deeply
concerned about the country’s pro-democracy activists after a crackdown by
the military junta last August, and senior administration officials
continue to have daily conversations and weekly meetings about how to
encourage the junta into some sort of transition from military rule.

But expectations that last August’s protests led by Buddhist monks could
end the junta’s domination have long since faded and there is division and
confusion over what more the United States and its allies could do to push
the process along. The junta has delayed a return of United Nations
special envoy Ibrahmi Gambari, who is working on political reconciliation
but is increasingly viewed in the West as ineffectual.

And many countries appear to have lost enthusiasm for challenging the
junta, either because they are eager for contracts with Myanmar involving
resources like oil and gems, or they fear creating instability in the
region. (China, India and the Southeast Asian nations are key, but Europe
and America also have commercial interests there.)
Still, the crackdown continues. On Tuesday, the junta charged 10 activists
detained during last year’s protests and they could face up to seven years
in prison. Amnesty International said recently that 700 people arrested
after those demonstrations remained locked up and more than 80 were
unaccounted for.

So when Mr. Bush says the United States supports freedom in Burma, that’s
all well and good. But the same question must be asked as with Darfur:
What’s next?

____________________________________

February 1, The Washington Times
First Lady still pushing reform on Burma – Jon Ward

First Lady Laura Bush is still lobbying world leaders to pressure the
military junta in Burma into reforming their government.

Mrs. Bush yesterday met in New York with Panamanian President Martin
Torrijos Espino. Panama will assume the presidency of the U.N. Security
Council this month.

Mrs. Bush was in New York for an event on heart disease (she is also
delivering the president's weekly radio address on that topic tomorrow),
and Mr. Torrijos was there because the event was sponsored by the United
Nations Children's Fund.

Mrs. Bush spoke with Mr. Torrijos of "the importance for the U.N. Security
Council to keep pressure on the military junta in Burma," said White House
spokesman Tony Fratto.

"And of course President Torrijos said that he would of course want to
keep the pressure on Burma to make the democratic changes that we all have
been calling for," Mr. Fratto said.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER


February 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
The junta’s crackdown continues – Bo Kyi

The fundamental challenge that the people of Burma are facing today stems
from the military's monopolization of power and its abuses against those
who challenge its authority.

The Burmese military regime not only has a firm grip on the state
apparatus and media but also uses them to violate the basic rights of the
people. Though the country is sliding into the condition of state failure,
the generals continue their exclusive political agenda and plan to
consolidate their power with a new constitution.

The junta has zero tolerance of any public dissent. In 2003, the military
even attempted to kill Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, an internationally known
Nobel Laureate, and dashed hopes of national reconciliation. Some Burma
watchers inside the country and abroad then noted that the opposition
movement’s strategy was losing ground and even becoming irrelevant.

However, politics were revitalized again in late 2004 after some student
leaders including Min Ko Naing were released after serving long prison
terms since 1989. Veteran student leaders formed the 88 Generation
Students Group and launched a series of political campaigns for national
reconciliation, receiving nationwide support and international
recognition.

Signature campaigns, letter campaigns, White expression (wearing white
clothes) campaigns and prayer campaigns were used to demonstrate the
public's hardships and call for genuine reconciliation and inclusive
political transition. The nature of the movements led by student leaders
became above ground and non-confrontational.

Together with National League for Democracy local members, student leaders
have been engaged not only in political actions but also in humanitarian
missions. They helped activists in setting up volunteer groups for
wide-ranging issues such as human rights education and promotion,
assisting HIV/AIDS patients, legal protection for victims of forced labor
and so on. Moreover, they have established indirect relationships with
local NGOs that help the public to alleviate their daily hardships.
Despite the regime reacting against the accelerating movement of student
leaders by beating, imprisoning and sanctioning their supporters, the
momentum of public mobilization did not wane.

Then on 15 August, the junta suddenly increased fuel prices overnight by
as much as 500 percent, and the hikes resulted in increases in prices of
public transport and also higher prices for some basic commodities due to
higher transport costs. The sharp rise in fuel prices triggered a series
of small protests in the country’s largest city, Rangoon. The 88
Generation Students Group led the walking protests to demonstrate against
the junta's mismanagement and call for lower consumer prices. But the
plainclothes security officials and civilian paid thugs handled the
protesters with brute force and physical abuse. All key leaders of 88
Generation Student Group, including Min Ko Naing, the most well-known
activist after Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, were arrested.

When police and civilian hooligans attacked Buddhist monks in Upper Burma
who joined the protest against the gasoline price hike on 5 September
2007, it sparked subsequent drama. The news of monks being tied to
lampposts and beaten fuelled the public's anger in this devout country,
and fellow Buddhist monks throughout the nation called upon the regime to
apologize for their wrongdoing and start national reconciliation process,
threatening a religious boycott if the regime failed to comply with these
demands. As the junta ignored their call, the monks carried out their
boycott, refusing any religious services and donations from the military
and their family members.

Thousands of Buddhist monks led the marches in several major cities of the
country, chanting loving-kindness verses of the Buddhist Canon and praying
for the peace of country. When students and the general public joined the
marches of monks, the numbers of protesters reached 200,000 in Rangoon
alone. This movement was known worldwide as the "Saffron Revolution".

However, the regime responded by spraying bullets into the monks and
people, resulting in at least 31 deaths according to United Nations
figures. At least 6,000 were arrested. Hundreds of monasteries were
raided.

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners records show that activists
have not only been beaten during arrests and whilst in detention, but have
also suffered extreme physical and mental torture during the interrogation
period. Even though the majority of detainees were released, 706 still
remain in detention.

One of the most disturbing forms of harassment is when security forces
cannot arrest specific individuals who are wanted by the authorities and
so arrest family members or hosts instead. This illegal practice of “kin
liability” was last practiced in Nazi Germany, where relatives of those
accused of crimes against the state were held to be equally responsible
and were arrested and sometimes executed.

The “Than Shwe regime” is now arresting family members of targeted people
to make sure that the person they are looking for comes out of hiding and
surrenders. The regime widely used this cruel method during the fall of
2007. For example, U Gambira, head of the All-Burma Monks Alliance and a
leader of the September protests, was arrested in November. Before he was
arrested, authorities arrested his father, U Min Lwin, and brother, Aung
Kyaw Kyaw, in an attempt to force him out of hiding. At present, although
his father U Min Lwin was released, his brother is still in Insein prison.

During last year, all activists were arrested without warrants. Moreover,
all are placed incommunicado and faced torture or ill-treatment without
access to adequate food and medical treatment. In addition, some detainees
are denied access to a lawyer or legal counsel. Even when the authorities
allowed some defendants to have lawyers, they could not perform their
functions as a fair and balanced legal system is non-existent.

The Military Government has created several new laws and ordinances that
are used as the legal foundation for incarcerating people without any
arrest warrants, legal proceedings, trials and legal appeals.

The common human right to peaceful assembly has been criminalized. In many
cases, activists have been imprisoned under criminal charges and sent to
labor camps.

Despite the continuing arrests and inhuman detention conditions in which
political prisoners are held, the international community has made little
progress in addressing the oppression and suffering of the Burmese people.
The visits of the UN special envoy to Burma, Mr. Gambari, and the UN
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Mr. Pinheiro, failed to yield
any real results. Despite promises made by the regime to Mr. Gambari to
cease arrests, political activists continue to be hunted down, arrested,
detained and tortured. While the international community has turned its
attention to other matters, the crackdown in Burma continues.

Bo Kyi is Joint Secretary of the Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners

____________________________________

February 1, Irrawaddy
Rambo: Another victory for the West and a defeat for Burma – Sai Soe Win Latt

Stories and rumors about the latest “Rambo” movie have been circulating in
Burmese newspapers and on web sites since filming began in Thailand.
Burmese activists hoped it would help internationalize the political
situation in Burma.

The movie, the fourth in the series, but simply titled “Rambo,” had its
world premier last Friday. Several Burmese organizations sent out e-mails
encouraging people to go watch the movie, endorsing it as “thrilling.”

Like other Hollywood films, “Rambo” has a tradition and a global strategy.
That is, the message it carries is less about Burma and more about the
United States. There is almost no plot and no political intrigue, only a
band of butchers, and wannabe saviors (from the West, of course). What
“Rambo” really does is reveal the ideas that serve to bring Western power
and rationality to realization; think Edward Said’s “Orientalism,” a
favorite concept of postcolonial and literary critics.

We should not feel content with “Rambo” just because it shows the sick
side of the Burmese junta (which has no good side anyway). We cannot
ignore the film’s perpetuation of the ideas that justify the US’s
domination and oppression in many parts of the world.

So, what ideals does this film portray or reinforce in the global arena?
How can we relate it to the power, domination and oppression of powerful
nations in this neo-colonial era?

Of course, every form of domination involves oppression. How can it be
that supposedly “modern” and “civilized” nations like Britain murdered and
enslaved people and conquered foreign lands? How do supposedly liberal
democratic states such as the US slaughter civilians in Iraq and get away
with it?

Indeed, the ability to justify oppression rests with the power to espouse
ethnocentric rhetoric about the people they are fighting against. Let us
not forget that Western domination, be it colonial or neo-colonial, is
never possible without stereotypical representation of non-Western
societies and cultures. Also, we must not lose sight of the fact that
Hollywood movies and their imagery are just another part of this cultural
stereotyping process.

Historically, colonial Europe produced distorted images of non-Western
societies as immoral, barbaric, savage, dangerous, and so on. Once these
images were juxtaposed against the West itself, they came to define the
West as moral, modern, rational and civilized. The West then assumed moral
responsibility to assist and civilize the “savage.”

Ironically, genocide and oppression often took place in the name of
civilization through Christian missionaries. Oppression was—and still
is—justified on the basis that “We are right” and “They are wrong.”

In the new film, Rambo’s brutal murders are justified when he mutters:
“When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing." Another time he
quips to a group of mercenaries: “Live for nothing or die for something."

It all goes back to the same old cliché—once Western people get into
trouble, things suddenly become “This is who we are and this is what we
do.” Such a colonial mindset.

In the real world, we see a similar mindset at work. We witness every
single American soldier killed in Iraq and Afghanistan mentioned on
television. We watch national leaders mourning for their deaths.
Meanwhile, countless missiles rain down on civilians in residential
neighborhoods and anonymous victims in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Look at how non-Western places and people are portrayed in Hollywood
movies. Take any James Bond or Indiana Jones movie; or the
contemporaries—“The Mummy” (1991) or “The Scorpion King (2002), not to
mention various CIA-inspired or Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. The bad guys
shown as cruel and despicable; the ordinary native people are naïve,
inferior and untrustworthy.

Perhaps the most disturbing scene in “Rambo” is the final scene, one of
the few that is not bloody. Hero John Rambo is back in his hometown in the
US and walks off into the sunset. Stopping on the side of the highway, he
turns and looks around—no “bad guys,” no guns, no savages: just the
highway, the trees and the open fields. Rambo chuckles to himself. Perhaps
he is thinking what a sweet and peaceful world this is: how unlike the
non-West.

Maybe “Rambo” deserves some credit for bringing the issue of Burma to an
international audience. But it does more to reinforce the idea that the
West is rational, moral, powerful and superior; whereas non-Western areas
are places of immorality, savagery and powerless victims.

Perhaps those who had hoped that Hollywood would internationalize Burma’s
political crisis will be more cautious next time. Let us not romanticize
the films that actually hijack the political crises of non-Western
societies to make their own points.

Sai Soe Win Latt is a graduate student in Geography from York University
in Canada.